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Saturday, 4 August 2012

Olympic Gold for postboxes

Every time a British athlete wins a gold medal in the Olympics or
Paralympics, Royal Mail will paint a post box gold in their home town.

Have you got one of these where you live yet?! This one is in Sherborne where we went to do our weekend shopping this morning (showery again as you can see!) Most of the flowering tubs and hanging baskets we see everywhere this year are in shades of red, white and blue as you can see here and this summer's weather seems to suit them as they are all looking good.

This one is in honour of Peter Wilson who won gold for shooting earlier this week and who lives in a village near Sherborne.

The speed with which Royal Mail is getting out the stamps and painting the mail boxes is amazing - maybe they merit a gold medal too as it's certainly faster than the mail delivery service is sometimes!!

Having said I wasn't interested in sport and how could we possibly justify spending all that money on Games and so on and so forth I now find myself getting drawn in to Games Fever! I was only passing through the sitting room where my husband was watching the cycling yesterday and I sat on a footstool for a moment and discovered two hours had passed by and no dinner started!

As Mick Brown said in today's Telegraph:Over the last week something quite magical has happened in Britain. People of
whom most of us have never heard, doing things about which most of us know
absolutely nothing, have put the country – and me – under a spell. Rowing,
cycling, slalom canoeing, sports shooting – we are all experts now, gathered
round our television screens and computer terminals (Work? That can wait),
united in that most precious and exhilarating of things – a Great National
Conversation.....The effect of all this on London has been particularly remarkable. People seem
to be walking with a lighter step, strangers engage each other in
conversation; the familiar landmarks are cast in a new and wondrous light as
Olympic settings. Could any city in the world have provided as splendid a
backdrop to beach volleyball as Horse Guards Parade, and to an equestrian
event as Greenwich?.... As if in some exuberant proletarian uprising, crowds have lined the streets of
the city and the leafy suburbs, five deep, reclaiming the spirit of the
Games from the autocratic hands of the IOC and corporate sponsorship. They
can’t say you can only eat McDonald’s, drink Pepsi or wear Adidas sneakers
when you’re standing outside your own house in Dorking.

2012 is certainly proving to be an amazing year here in the UK what with the Silver Jubilee celebrations, the torch carrying all over Britain and now the Olympic Games and the Paralympics to follow. It's all going to be a bit of an anticlimax once it's all over isn't it?!

22 comments:

"The speed with which Royal Mail is getting out the stamps and painting the mail boxes is amazing - maybe they merit a gold medal too as it's certainly faster than the mail delivery service is sometimes!!"

Watching from afar I think GB is doing a splendid job of hosting the games. Now only if the weather would improve (it's warmer here in the middle of winter) and we could grab a couple more gold medals, it would be perfect!I do like the idea of painting the post boxes gold.

THIRD in the medal table at moment of writing - can't believe how much I am enjoying the whole thing, and wherever you go people are talking about it - favourably. Let's hope we don't get fed up with it before the end, but it seems so well organised there is always something to look forward to. Love that letter box, and the stamps. Just goes to show what can be achieved when everyone pulls together.

No chance to see the Games (no telly) but loved your post!What a lovely idea to paint the lettre boxes!Broadcast news allows us to hear a snippet here and there and you might just hear us cheering all the way from the Pacific NW coast!Thanks for sharing,

I agree. I never thought that I would enjoy watching so much sports on TV but I have and it's way better than the football whose players get paid far too much. I'm hoping that Murray will beat Federer in the tennis.June

I think the postboxes and stamps are a brilliant idea!!I didn't think I would have been so interested in the Games as I have been, I never ever was in past Olympics.It's wonderful and you're right we're all going to miss them when they're over.Vivienne x

Loved this post. I work in Sherborne so will be checking out the postbox on Monday! We went to the games yesterday in London and I caanot begin to describe the atmosphere. I have never witnessed anything like it. I felt very proud indeed. M x

Its really is UK's 2012, I was watching last night, the triathalon held in and around Hyde Park, it really is a fabulous city, I miss it already! And the athletes are doing so well, there will be loads of gold post boxes! My word verification had UK in capitals in it!

We experienced the same sort of thin here in Oz in 2000.I know our reputation is that we Aussies are all sports mad but of course that is not universal but when the Olympics comes to your country it really draws you in doesn't it? I know people in Sydney spoke about the uplifting experience of friendship that seemed to fill the air in Sydney at games time.CheersPS. Thanks for the good wishes for Dad.

I'm loving the games which is why I'm hardly doing any commenting atm:) We shall have our gold postbox shortly as Jess Ennis is a Sheffield girl and in fact went to the same school as my children though a good few years after them. Yesterday was just brilliant wasn't it?

Okay, I own up - we are a sport free household and are not watching the Olympics, though I do think Royal Mail has a good idea with the post boxes - I'll have to keep a sharp eye out for them :o)Rose H

I thought Peter Wilson gave some great interviews after his win Jane, very witty and charming. SO pleased for all concerned. I am LOVING the Olympic Games and enjoying everyone's success and pleasure in them. I think the only muscles I'm exercising are the glutimous maximus on the sofa but it is east to get drawn in as you say! Go team GB!

What an amazing idea the gold postboxes are! It's wonderful how the Olympics have brought everyone together, such a positive thing to see. It would be hard not to get drawn in, even for the least interested people!Enjoy your week, Jane.Helen x